


the places that we never should have left

by fallingmistinthedark



Series: Slipping [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A Plots in There Somewhere I Swear, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF!Lance, Blade of Marmora!Lance, Dual Wielding Lance, F/F, F/M, I Have a Whole Document for the Plot and Still Somehow Manage to Change it Halfway Through, Keith is in there a lot this time!, M/M, Original Character(s), Space Mercenary Lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 08:17:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13543377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallingmistinthedark/pseuds/fallingmistinthedark
Summary: These are the last blues we're ever gonna haveLet's see how deep we get-:-Now that three of the Castle residents know, it seems the Universe has decided that all must know... but first he has to teach the paladins how to catch a druid, save a possible princess, and get punched by an actual one.





	the places that we never should have left

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry this took so dang long! I was dealing with some stuff in my life and school (y'know, the usual) but it's here now! I hope to have the next one out in let's say... a month and a half... let's see how long it takes though lol

Coran watched Allura watching Lance’s pod. She was on the main deck, as she was supposed to be, but Coran could tell she’d rather be anywhere but there. Coran sighed, coming over to watch the feed over her shoulder. 

She wouldn’t notice it, he supposed, but the footage being shown here was looped. Coran sighed again, earning him a strange look from the Princess. “I’ll be back in a minute, Allura. Let me know if anything happens.” She nodded, remaining silent as she fixed her eyes back onto the screen. 

Coran took his time going, checking in on all the paladins as they did the things they did everyday. Keith was in the training deck, but it looked like he’d finally learned what a break was, as he was sitting on the bench and drinking some water. No training sentries were in sight. He nodded, and continued on. 

Matt was in his room, surrounded by his many plants (non-toxic though, Coran would never allow that, at least not in Matt’s room, where he slept, of all places). He seemed to be collecting data on them all, and he seemed to be enjoying himself. Coran thought that was a bit strange, but maybe that was because he held no special love for such foliage. His true passion had been in Altean animals. Now the only four Altean animals left were what the paladins called “mice”. He frowned, continuing on after stopping to chat with Matt about his progress. 

Hunk was in the halls, and he nodded to Coran as he continued on. Shiro was in the command room with the starmap, looking at it with a strange look in his eyes. Coran knew what constellation, and what galaxy he was looking at. Lance had asked to view the very same galaxy many times, when he’d been with Coran. Coran left the room silently. 

Pidge was nowhere to be found, but that was to be expected. There was only one person with the technological prowess and knowledge to be able to hijack the video feed for only one room of the castle. 

Coran stepped through the doorway to the cryopod room, only to find Lance out of his pod, leaning against Pidge. Both looked to be asleep. Lance looked content, and even happy, if Coran was right. They both looked like they’d been crying. He heard footsteps behind him in the hall, and he turned, positioning himself so that anyone who walked in wouldn’t be able to see Lance. He was relieved to find it was Matt. 

Matt took one look at the scene and hit the door lock on the panel beside the door. Coran smiled. “We really should have known Number 5 would already know,” Coran commented as Matt took a seat on the opposite exam table. Matt nodded. 

“She’s gonna punch me,” Matt responded, smiling at his sister. “I didn’t tell her Lance was back, even though we promised to tell each other everything.”

“You just had Lance’s best interests at heart, Number 6,” Coran told him, “I’m sure Number 5 will consider that in her evaluations.”

“Nope. He’s still getting punched,” Matt’s head snapped towards Pidge, who was awake now. Perhaps they’d been too loud. Lance shifted, groaning as he lifted his arms to go around Pidge, almost like he was hugging her, before going back to sleep. Pidge grumbled a little, and Coran supposed she did look like a “grumpy cat”. 

“How about we think that through, hmmm?” Matt asked, pleading with her. Coran smiled, since this was about the exact same interaction he’d had with his sister after he’d neglected to tell her he was then, somehow, set to be Crown Prince Alfor’s Head Royal Advisor. In fact, he’d forgotten to tell his entire family. They’d thought he was just an attendant, until he was formally announced during the live television event that announced the date of Alfor’s succession. “I was really only doing it because Lance asked me to.”

“That idiot threw himself in front of a bomb; do we really want to trust his judgment here?” Pidge asked, eyes narrowed and mouth set. Lance brought his head up, the motion making Pidge jump. Coran sighed, defending Lance before he himself could. 

“Number 5 you know very well why he did that,” Coran retorted, smiling fondly at them. Lance had come incredibly far since then. Coran was, of course, grateful for Lance pushing him out of the way when it had happened, but he also held some regrets about not realizing the abnormality with the little robot before Lance had. 

“Yeah! I was saving Coran, ya’ know, like a hero!” Lance said indignantly, the tone losing all it’s seriousness with the yawn at the end. Coran smiled at the boy. It was nice to be able to see him so happy with the others. Coran only wished the boy had everyone here now, not just a select few. 

“The only thing you saved was time in the pods for me, my boy,” Coran told him, winking. “Alteans appear to have sturdier anatomical structures than humans. I would have been better off than you taking the hit, but I appreciate your sentiment and that you cared enough about me already to do such a thing.” Number 5 laughed at the dumbfounded expression that appeared on Lance’s face at that. Coran pushed off the wall to clutch Lance’s shoulder firmly. “You have nothing to be regretful about. I’m sure it helped us grow as a team, my boy.”

“Really?” Lance asked, and Coran nodded, struggling to keep from laughing. This team of paladins was just too funny, as compared to the previous generation of paladins from Alfor’s time. 

“Of that I am undoubtedly sure, my boy,” Coran affirmed, taking a step back to lean back against the wall once again. 

“Thanks, Coran,” Lance responded, smiling “like an idiot,” as Number 4 often said when Lance was still with them. Coran narrowed his eyes, irritated at himself for using the past-tense. Lance was back with them, so maybe he should refer to that time as the time before. It was a compromise, Coran decided, between not referring to it at all and referring to it in the past-tense. Lance’s stomach growled, interrupting the conversation that had broken out between all four of the others present, and his own thoughts. 

“No problem, Number 3, let’s get you dressed so we can get something in you,” Coran smiled, already turning to head out and gather the Lance’s clothes. Lance shouted a thank you after him, and he shook his head to himself. It was nice to have him back. 

><

Keith wandered the halls, not quite sure what to do. He hadn’t seen Shiro since breakfast, and Hunk had been good to talk to, for a while at least, while the other cooked, but he’d left a while ago, intending to go to the training room, but that wasn’t where his feet had taken him. 

He’d ended up in front of Blue’s hangar. 

For the past few weeks, close to the time Rayul had joined their team, he’d found himself in front of Blue’s hangar more times than he could count. It was never intentional, he just ended up there. If he’d known any better, he’d say Blue was calling to him, beckoning him into her hangar, but there was no way. She wasn’t his Lion, so it wasn’t like she could talk to him, right? 

_Right?_ Keith asked himself, suddenly overcome with doubt. He felt himself frown, staring at the hangar door apprehensively. He didn’t especially _want_ to go in there, but he could still feel something pulling him closer. He just hoped that something was Blue herself, and not some sort of weird druid thing that he’d need to get fixed by Coran. 

“Number 4! A bit of a surprise to spot you here!” Coran exclaimed from somewhere down the hall, just as he’d been about to step in. Keith jumped a little, hand going towards the bayard on his hip. Coran eyed him with concern. “Are you quite alright, my boy? Why are you in front of Blue’s hangar?” 

“Uh yeah, I think I’m fine. But Coran, I do have a question,” Keith responded after a moment, unsure as to whether he’d get the answer he wanted. 

“What can I help you with, my boy?” Coran said, slipping past him and opening the door to the hangar before walking inside, motioning for Keith to follow him. 

“Um, is it possible for a lion that isn’t your own to call out to you and try to talk to you?” Keith asked, shrinking away from what felt like Blue’s gaze as soon as he entered. It felt like Blue was watching him, expectant.  
“Of course, the Lions are sentient, and may talk to whoever they wish, especially if they know something that could be of benefit to another member of Voltron that is not necessarily their own paladin. It’s happened many times in the past with Yellow and Green,” Coran answered, humming as he picked a bundle of clothes up, that looked suspiciously like Rayul’s, from a drawer near the back. 

“Uh, thanks Coran, but I have to ask, whose stuff is that?” Coran smiled at Keith’s question. 

“Rayul’s, Number 4. He’s just out of the pod and wants his clothes back. Matt got a new set of clothes together for him, and he fixed some of the things wrong with his mask,” Coran answered, motioning for Keith to follow him. Keith shook his head, making Coran pause. “You coming, Number 4, or was the lion who wanted to speak with you Blue?” 

“It was Blue,” Keith confirmed. Coran smiled, a smile he’d seen many times on Allura, Matt, and Shiro. It was a sad sort of smile. 

“Alright then, I’ll take my leave. Blue has never been one for patience when it comes to those that aren’t her paladin. Give my best regards to her for me, will you Keith?” And with that, Coran was gone as fast as he’d burst into the hangar. 

It was only quiet for a moment more before vibrations filled the air, surprising Keith so much he had to take a step back. Blue’s eyes lit up as he did so, and she let out a long pleased hum that filled the air much more than the previous vibrations ever could. 

“ _Keith! You came!_ ” Blue purred, sounding absolutely delighted. Keith nodded, grimacing as the feeling of having a Lion talk to you wash over him. It was the weirdest thing, after all. They were the physical sounds (purring, whining, rumbling, etc.) and then there was the voice that resonated inside your head. 

“Of course, Blue,” Keith responded, smiling up at Blue. He didn’t even know if she could see him, but he was sure she would appreciate the effort, “What did you want me for?” 

“ _To talk, little Red Cub,_ ” Blue responded, her purring turning to quiet content rumblings. “ _Can I not talk to my most treasured pride-mate’s paladin once in a while?_ ” She asked. If she could smile, Keith supposed she would be putting on her most innocent smile. 

“You’re a sentient war machine, what do you think I think?” Keith replied, feeling just the slightest bit of irritation at Blue’s coy act. Blue’s rumbles became several short huffs, almost like she was laughing at him. She probably was, now that he thought about it. Lance had always said she’d laugh at his jokes. Keith missed those jokes. 

“ _Though sentient I may be, I can still only guess. Mind reading is not one of my many talents when it comes to a paladin that is not my own,_ ” Blue answered, her tone taking on a playful note. Keith blinked. Red’s tone almost never changed unless he was irritated or anticipating a fight. It was surprising, but also kind of refreshing to hear Blue take on tones like a person would when she talked with him. It was also kind of refreshing to hear her skirt around an issue, as she was so clearly doing with this small talk. Red never skirted around an issue. Even when Shiro disappeared Red had gone straight to the point. He’d had to become the Black Paladin. 

And when Lance had disappeared, Red had done the same. “ _You have to let him go. He was troubled while he was my paladin. I promise you though, that he will come back._ ”

Keith hadn’t believed Red then, and he believed him even less than he did then now. If he hadn’t come back yet, even with the news of the new Blue Paladin reaching every corner of the universe, Keith doubted Lance would ever come back. 

“So you can read your Paladin’s mind?” Keith asked, content to skirt around the issue as long as Blue wanted to. If she’d gone through all the trouble of calling him to her, he knew it couldn’t be good. 

“ _Of course. It is a way for us to monitor safety and communicate with one another effectively. There are many things about my paladins that only I know. There are many things about Lance in particular that I have failed to tell anyone due to his requests that I keep quiet,_ ” Blue told him, voice softening and taking on a fond note when she said Lance’s name. Keith blinked in surprise. He hadn’t expected that Blue would want to talk to him about Lance of all things right now. 

She’d also said she knew things about him that no one else did… did that mean she knows where he is? Keith brought his head up sharply, looking Blue in the eyes. “Are you telling me you know where we can find him?”

Blue’s head suddenly moved tilting to look straight down at him. Her eyes, brightly lit, burned into him. 

“ _That’s exactly what I’m telling you, little Red,_ ” Blue said, voice hardening as she did so. Keith gasped, feeling like there suddenly wasn’t enough air for him to breathe. 

“Y-you knew? Thi-this whole time?” Keith asked, struggling to gain back his breath. Blue shifted from one giant mechanical paw to the other. The ground shook underneath him, and his knees buckled. 

“ _Saying such a thing is not entirely true. I had an approximate idea of where he was at all times, but I didn’t know exactly where he was until recently. I could not say anything to my current paladin, because that was one of the things Lance told me not to do. However, he never said anything about giving you a hint,_ ” Blue explained, sounding tired and confused. 

“You’re going to give me a hint?” Keith asked, “Why? I was one of the reasons your paladin left in the first place. I was- I was horrible to him,” Blue shook her head, a slow steady process. 

“ _You were a reason, but not in the way you think, little Red Cub,_ ” Blue told him, “ _Besides, it’s time my paladin came home, don’t you think?_ ” Blue asked, her voice taking on a solemn note. Keith nodded slowly. He agreed all too much with that statement. 

“So? What’s the hint you’re going to give me?” Keith asked, getting up to stand squarely, looking her in the eyes as he did so. She was silent for a long few minutes, almost as if she was trying to choose how best to frame her hint. 

“ _You’ve been the Blade already, haven’t you?_ ” Blue asked, almost as if the thought had just crossed her mind to ask.

“Of Marmora, right?” Keith asked, and Blue rumbled her verification. 

“ _Start with Kolivan, and if you can’t get anything out of him, talk to the Galra around the base. You will find answers there,” Blue was silent for a moment, almost like she was being talked to in her mind. She probably was. “I have to go now, though. Matt’s calling me, asking me as to why I am suddenly very active in his mind despite not actually talking to him. I wish you luck, little Red Cub. Bring my paladin home to me,_ ” Blue requested, lifting her head back up to it’s regular stationary position. Before Keith could ask what Lance had been doing with the Blade, Blue’s eyes darkened, and he felt her presence recede from his mind. All of her presence but a quiet, gentle purr in the back of his mind. 

“What was Lance doing at the Blade though?” Keith asked himself, speaking out loud to help himself process the question. Keith turned, and stumbled for the door, excited to enlist someone’s, anyone’s help in finding Lance. They were sure to help him, after all. They wanted Lance home just as much as he himself did. 

It was time. They would bring their sharpshooter back home. 

He was so wrapped up in these thoughts that he almost collided with two people entering Blue’s hangar just as he was exiting it. 

Matt held him at an arm’s length from them, looking at him with confusion and a hint of worry. “Hey Keith! Are you doing okay? This is Blue’s hangar, not Red’s, buddy.” Keith eyes focused on the person behind Matt. He was only half-focusing on Matt’s words. 

“Don’t worry about it, Matt. Blue just wanted to talk to me,” Keith said, not really focusing on his words either. What caught his attention, however, was the way Rayul stood behind Matt. Almost like the Blade was anxious about something. And so soon after he was out of the pods too.  
“Blue? Wanted to talk? To you?” Matt asked, looking incredibly perplexed. Keith nodded. 

“Yes to all of the above,” he responded, eyes focusing back on Rayul, who was silently shifting from foot to foot. “How are you, man? Getting hit by a sniper probably wasn’t the best experience,” Keith said, ignoring Matt’s confused sputtering as he swept into Blue’s hangar, probably to talk to Blue himself. 

“It was a learning experience, that is for sure, Keith,” the other responded, still shifting from foot to foot, almost as if he didn’t realize he was doing it. “I, however, wish to not repeat such an experience.”

“I can bet. Well, I have to go find Allura or Hunk, preferably Hunk because he usually has food, so I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing,” Keith said, turning to start walking down the hallway. 

“Hunk was in the kitchen when we were walking down here, and Allura was in the bridge with Coran. I wish you luck in your endeavors, Keith,” Rayul told him, raising his voice slightly to make sure Keith heard him. Keith waved as he continued down the hall. 

“Thanks!” He called back to Rayul. He barely caught the other’s nod in return as he turned the corner. He would try Hunk first because Hunk was one of the ones still advocating to look for Lance when they had time off from the Empire problem and such, which was rarely ever, but Hunk had a point. Any time devoted to it all could turn up leads. 

Keith hurried as he turned the next corner, completely disregarding all of Shiro’s attempts to try to tell him not to run in the halls. Keith got it, he did, but there was only seven of them on this massive ship and he had to get places damn it. It was his choice whether he wanted to walk or run somewhere wasn’t it?

He almost collided with the kitchen door, however, so there was that, he supposed. A moment later, the door slid open; having recognized someone was there to open for. Hunk looked up as he stepped in from where the other was stooped over the ovens in the corner, probably checking on whatever he was making for lunch. 

“Hey, Keith!” Hunk greeted, tugging on the oven mitts that had previously been sitting on the counter above the ovens, before reaching in to take out a tray of what looked to be little pies. They were slightly more orange than regular Earth dough, but Keith assumed that was just because it was from a different planet. “What’s up? We just talked, like, four hours ago or so.”

“Wasn’t that just an hour ago though?” Keith asked, surprised. He hadn’t known that long had passed since he’d last talked to Hunk. And if it had been four hours since… did that mean he’d missed lunch? No wonder he was suddenly so hungry. 

“Matt just messaged me to tell me that you were talking to Blue… maybe she made the conversation seem shorter to you than it actually was? It must have taken her a shit ton of time and energy to talk to you because you aren’t her paladin. Green tried to talk to me once and it took them like two hours to have what felt like a half-hour conversation,” Hunk explained, shrugging as he set the first tray down and got the second one out. In total, Keith saw that there were twenty little pies. 

“That makes sense… I wonder by just how much the Lions can manipulate time,” Keith commented, waiting patiently as Hunk turned the ovens off, dropped the mitts back into the drawer he kept them in, and then, once everything else was done and cleaned off, he took out ten plates and put two of each pie onto them. 

“Keith, could you take some of them while I take the others so we can go set the table? The others should be gathering pretty soon,” Hunk murmured, gathering four of the plates along his arms like a waiter at a fancy restaurant. Keith grabbed the other three, carefully balancing them like he would his, Shiro’s, and Matt’s plates back at the Garrison. Keith had his hand free with this arrangement, so he bent down to grab the sauce container Hunk had been eyeing with contempt earlier. “Oh, and could you grab the sauce if you have a hand to spare?” Hunk called over his shoulder. 

“Already on it, Hunk,” Keith replied, following just behind the other as they entered the dining hall, carefully balancing their own loads of plates in their arms. Hunk began on the side closest to them, setting down the most precariously balanced plates first as he went down the side of the table. Keith crossed to the other side of the table to set down his plates. Hunk sent a grateful glance his way when he set the sauce down in the middle of the table. 

Pidge walked in then, glancing weirdly at Keith before she took her seat, not bothering to wait for the others to dole out some sauce for herself. Keith greeted her with a nod, which Pidge returned before tearing a piece off of her first pie to dip it into the sauce. Allura and Shiro walked in next, too close for two people who were just strategizing. Hunk greeted them with a pleasant voice, which they also returned. Coran walked in a moment later, twirling his mustache. Both he and Hunk nodded at him, which Coran returned with a smile. Allura greeted him by name. Rayul, Matt, Nyma, and Rolo came in next. 

He never really understood why Rayul joined them for meals when he never took his mask off. He always took his plate somewhere where they didn’t get to see him eat. Speaking of which, Keith has never seen or heard of Rayul showering. Keith shook that thought off. Obviously Rayul showered, probably just at times when no one usually showered or was up. Probably both. 

Pidge greeted her brother as he sat beside her, while Rayul, Nyma, and Rolo sat in their row on Pidge’s other side. Pidge adjusted herself once Rayul had leaned back in his chair, positioning herself so she was actually _closer_ to Rayul than she had been. It was almost like she wanted to get even closer than that. _That’s weird,_ Keith thought faintly. It wasn’t like Pidge to want to get close to anyone she didn’t know. 

“Now that everyone’s here,” Allura began, setting her plate a little to the side so that she could focus on whatever she had to say, “there are some things I’d like to address.”

“We’re listening,” Matt responded, tearing a piece off of his second pie before shoving it into his mouth. Allura nodded in his general direction, but her eyes were on Rayul. 

“This is more of brief than a discussion, so I want to know before we continue, are you up to a mission so soon, Rayul?” Allura asked, still looking at Matt, oddly enough. Rayul nodded as he said, “Of course. This is nothing I’m not used to already. Please, continue with your brief Princess. I’d like to know what you learned while I was out.”

“Right,” Allura stated, ready to finally begin her brief in earnest. “Kolivan and I had a very thorough discussion once you came back, and it was decided that it was best to strike at a Galra supply line as a single functioning unit instead of splitting our resources up. Resources being you paladins, myself, and Rayul and his team.”

“Kolivan had a breakthrough on that? I was supposed to do that solo, but I trust your and my commander’s judgments on the matter, princess,” Rayul was quiet for a moment before adding, “I assume this means we will be going for the druids assigned to whichever outpost we are infiltrating.”

“That is exactly the case, Rayul,” Allura exclaimed, “I’m glad you are up to date on what we know about Galra supply lines and how they work.”

“Of course, Princess. I’ve fought several druids before, so this should be fairly easy, though there is a trick to it. I could teach the paladins if you’d like?” Rayul offered, nodding along with her. She nodded, smiling at him. 

“That would be perfect Rayul. Could you start during the training session today?” Allura asked, and Rayul nodded. 

“Of course, Princess. Please continue with your brief,” Rayul concluded, and Allura continued on. 

“This base is just outside of the Nier-Silicisca system. It’s one of the bigger ones, and almost 60% of Galra supplies travels through it at one point or another. We believe there to be at least ten druids stationed there, which we will have to take out in relative quiet. Of course, we have Pidge, Nyma, and Rolo’s hacking experience behind us… and I believe Kolivan said he will contribute one of his best to the hacking endeavor. I believe her name was Keyleva? She will be here on the Castle with Coran and myself while all of you infiltrate the base.”

“Question, Allura,” Pidge said during a lull in Allura’s brief. Allura nodded, waiting for the girl’s question. “Will I be here or will I be providing hacking help from the inside?” 

“Ideally, you’ll only have to focus on fighting, which is why we’re bringing in Keyleva. But yes, if things take a turn for the worse, you’ll be providing hacking assistance from the inside,” Allura answered, pressing a button on the table to activate the screen behind her. On it was a view of what was captioned to be the Nier-Silicisca system. Allura zoomed in, showing a patch of darkened space. “The base is fairly far from any planets in the system, however, so even if they do call for backup, it will take at least half a varga to get to the base, though it’ll probably be more like a whole varga.”

“So we have time to get out if things go south?” Keith asked, finally speaking up. He thought the mission was fairly simple as of now. They just had to get in, quietly take down ten different druids, and get out. With Rayul’s help, especially with teaching them how to actually fight the druids, he had no doubts everything would go smoothly. 

“Exactly, Keith, though I am worried how that is the thing you choose to focus on,” Allura said, her smile taking on a slight teasing tone. He could tell, however, that it was mostly worry. He shook his head. 

“Sorry, Princess. Just clarifying. I don’t plan on rushing in like I have in the past,” Keith assured her. He hadn’t done that since Lance disappeared. A lot of things stopped with Lance. And a lot of things began without him too. As much as Keith didn’t like it, both thoughts were true. 

“That’s excellent news, Keith. I worry about you sometimes,” Allura commented, smirking ever so slightly. Rayul let out a chuckle, and Keith stiffened. He relaxed once he realized Rayul had experienced his recklessness once already. The other had had to carry him back, apparently. Hunk also let a smile slip, and Pidge just looked in his direction with a blank look. 

“That’s basically Shiro’s mood at all times,” Pidge added, and Shiro laughed this time. It was a short laugh, but a laugh all the same. Allura was looking at him with an adoring smile on her face, and Keith had to look away. They were so in love it was kind of gross. That’s how he found himself looking at Rayul, and beside him, Matt. Keith thought the look on Matt’s face was confusing. It reminded him of something, of what, he couldn’t tell. 

Keith looked back to Allura, as Rayul had tensed up a bit, again. That usually meant she was back to her brief. However, she still had the look on her face, eyes flicking to Shiro every so often as she continued. That’s when it hit Keith. Matt was looking at Shiro the same way Allura had been. 

“Keith?” Allura asked, looking at him with concern. Keith realized then that he’d probably missed a question directed his way. “Can you do it?”

“I’m sorry, Princess. I missed what I was being asked,” Keith replied evenly, meeting her eyes. She nodded. 

“We were asking how fast you can get to Red if things do go south. Rayul already said he could, so if you can’t, we’ll need to find a better place to stash Red for the escape,” Allura told him, motioning with her hand to the red blip showing Red’s would-be approximate location according to the black blips where he and Rayul would be. He knew he could do it, so he nodded. 

“Of course I can, Princess. No need to change anything here,” Keith responded, trying to get focused back on the brief. He’d have to think about this sometime later, when he wasn’t going to be distracted from a mission. It was kind of hard though, knowing that his best friend at the Garrison (not counting Shiro) had some sort of feelings for his brother. His brother who was clearly in a relationship with the Princess. 

Keith knew you really couldn’t help who you loved, though. He was a prime example of it. 

“So everyone is clear on the plan then?” Allura asked a moment after she’d concluded her brief. “Paladins?” Allura asked, looking to them for confirmation. Keith nodded, just as the others were doing. Hunk even gave her a thumbs up as he finished eating. “Rayul?” Allura asked, glancing in the mentioned Blade’s direction. He nodded, looking solemn. Nyma and Rolo nodded to her as well, before she even had to ask. She nodded back at them. “You two will be with Coran for the majority of the operation, and I believe the only thing you two need to do as of now is to familiarize yourselves with the layout of the base so you can direct Rayul. Does that sound about right?” Allura asked the two, who nodded again. 

“Will do, Princess Allura,” Nyma responded, finishing off her meal. Rolo was right behind her as he nodded. Keith didn’t really get why they both called Allura by her full title, since she’d insisted they called her either Allura or Princess while they were working together, but Rayul had merrily shook his head when they’d asked and said it was a respect thing. Even going so far as to say they still called him ‘sir’ or ‘boss’ most of the time. 

“Excellent. Now that everyone has their assignment we will be doing some training led by Rayul. But, after lunch, you have some time to do whatever you wish, so I suggest you all finish as quickly as you can,” Allura said, a smile behind her eyes as she moved her plate closer to her and began to eat. Shiro leaned in to say something to her, which had her smiling wider. 

Keith glanced Matt’s way, who was pointedly not looking at them. Instead, the other was standing up with his plate and leaving with Rayul, who was headed god knows where to finish his meal. Keith felt a bit better at that, that Matt had gained Rayul’s trust enough to be able to see the other’s face. 

He went back to finishing his meal, thoughts of Shiro, Allura, and Matt revolving in his head. So much so that he almost forgot about the situation with Blue. Almost. 

><

Lance was not confident in his ability to teach the paladins how to catch and keep a druid in one place long enough to kill her, and felt the Blade would be better suited to it, and he’d been telling Matt so, loudly, for the past ten minutes. 

“C’mon Lance! I’m sure you can do it! You taught me how to access Blue’s radar ray with only a few words! I’m sure you can do this, in fact, I’m so sure I’ll bet you three of the chocolate bars I got at that earth shop in the mall I know you’ve gone to before,” Matt exclaimed, trying to shut him up. Lance shook his head, before stopping in the middle of the motion. 

“Wait- you have chocolate?” Lance asked, with the tone of someone not quite believing what he’d just heard. Matt nodded. 

“It’s not the best, and it’s from like, 1965, but I mean, it’s chocolate man, and I hadn’t had that shit in _years_ ,” Matt told him, shuffling to his cabinet where he kept all of his stuff only to bring out three vintage Hershey’s. Lance reached for them out of reflex. It had also been about a year for him. Probably more since the Garrison didn’t exactly allow chocolate. 

“Oh- oh my god,” Lance gasped, bringing his hand back to clutch at the edge of his hood. Matt smirked as he put them back. 

“You think you’re gonna be okay now?” Matt asked, a knowing look in his eyes. Lance nodded, still looking at the spot where the bars had disappeared to. “Good, now get your stuff back on. It’s already time for that training session.” Lance stilled before reaching for his mask. He hadn’t known it had actually been that close. He pulled his hood up, hiding his hair from view once his mask was securely on. 

“Do you guys have thermal imaging in your helmets? I wouldn’t know because we never had to use it while I was with Voltron,” Lance asked, releasing a breath in relief once Matt nodded. 

“After you left, we had a job on a dark ice planet, where the only possible way we would’ve seen the Galra coming was with thermal imaging. That was actually like, my third mission as the Blue Paladin? It was weird,” Matt explained, reaching for his helmet as they exited his room. 

“I think I’m going to tell them,” Lance said suddenly as they rounded the corner into the main hallway. Matt stiffened besides him as they continued walking. 

“Are you sure? We still don’t know if that Lotor threat is completely gone, y’know,” Matt told him. Lance nodded, slowly this time. 

“I feel like this secret is doing more harm than good. Hunk’s always been inherently suspicious, but I guess being in this war is just making it worse. He even got Shiro and Keith to agree with him,” Lance explained, shrugging. “Plus, they deserve to know. It’s not their fault I left, and it’s about time they stopped being guilty over it. You had the right idea with that log Blue sent me.” 

Matt whipped his head around to look at him with wide, surprised eyes. “You watched those?” Lance nodded. “Every single one. Multiple times sometimes, even. I only got to watch that one once though, because I had to go on the mission to free your dad.” 

“That was you?” Matt asked, suddenly looking extremely grateful, before stiffening and going pale once more. “That was _you_?” 

“I’m assuming the change in tone was that you suddenly remembered the pile of bodies behind Mr.Holt,” Lance said, smiling softly behind the mask once Matt nodded. “I didn’t want to risk any Druid tricks with any of the officers, and I didn’t want to endanger Mr.Holt. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if something I failed to do got your guys’ dad hurt or worse.”

“That’s actually really- wow. I don’t know what to say. I know I’ve had to do my fair share of killing, but, wow,” Matt murmured as they entered the hallway. “Okay, man, whatever you want to do. It’s really your choice. I think it’ll be good for the team though, to know they have you back.” Lance’s brow furrowed at the way Matt’s tone had changed at the end. It kinda reminded him of when Allura had become the Blue Paladin for while while he took up the Red Paladin mantle. That’s when it hit him. Matt thought he’d be taking the Paladin spot back from him. 

“Look, Matt,” Lance said, stopping right outside the door and tugging the other back to make sure he didn’t go in, “I’m not going to want Blue back once the rest of the team knows who I am. You’re the Paladin now, Matt, and I won’t take that away from you unless you ask me to.” Matt’s eyes went wide before his face settled into a small smile of gratitude. 

“Thanks. I kinda like where I am right now, and Blue, she’s well, you know how she is. I like the feeling of being back on a team again, too,” Matt responded quietly, smiling more. Lance nodded. 

“I know the feeling. Now let’s get in there so I can pilfer three of your chocolate bars,” Lance said, motioning towards the door. Matt smiled back at him. 

“Let’s.”

>

“How the _hell_ does that even work?” Pidge seethed, panting heavily as she leaned against the wall to take a quick breather. Lance smirked behind his mask. This had been his reaction as well, since the solution as fairly painless and once you knew where a druid was going, it was easy to render them unconscious, and, if needed, dead. Lance had had to kill a druid a while back, in part because she’d seen them, and partly because she was helping with Haggar’s experiments so much so that the Blade had deemed her an imminent threat. (He hadn’t really slept well that night, the feeling of her body crumpling in his arms playing over and over in his mind. Kolivan, funnily enough, had been the one to pick up what he was feeling, and the one to snap him out of it.) 

Lance shrugged outwardly, hoping to placate the younger girl. “You’ll have to ask Mavrina for that, if you want more information. She can probably answer most of your questions about standard Blade equipment and how it works,” Pidge’s grimace turned into a small smirk as her eyes became alight with excitement. 

“Who’s that?” She asked, easily diverted from her earlier annoyance. Lance chuckled. 

“Mavrina’s the head of the science division for the Blade. She approves new equipment design and oversees testing for it, as well as overseeing important Alliance missions like the one I was on. She’s a mentor to me, so I assure you she’ll happily let you in on the behind-the-scenes tech stuff,” Lance told her, stifling his laughter. She looked like she was practically buzzing with excitement with the way she was shifting in place. “If you want I could call her sooner rather than later…”.

“I’m gonna have to stop you right there, Rayul. You’re stealing away one of my best paladin’s attention during our very important training session,” Shiro announced, stopping the conversation with an amused small smile on his face. Lance nodded, turning to face the rest of the resting paladins. Hunk looked spent, for the most part. They’d been at it for a good two hours or so now. Keith looked like he was starting to have trouble which made Lance pause. He wasn’t even sweating really, and here Keith was looking like he kinda just wanted to go sleep somewhere. 

The Blade training must have done a number on Lance’s stamina. “Ready, paladins? You only have a fifty percent chance of survival at the current point, shall we continue so that your lives are not a mere coin toss?” 

“Could I have like one more minute, man?” Hunk wheezed, still not quite ready. Lance nodded. 

“Of course. We have all day, after all.”

~

Lance awoke that night to an alarm blaring. He half expected it to be the Castle’s alarms after them constantly going off for the last few months he’d actually been here with his team, and he felt all the air leave him as it suddenly hit him that somehow Lotor found out and he’s endangering the team again and- oh wait, the alarm was in his Blade mask. 

Written in Galran on the visor are the words “Member requested for Quick Extraction Effort, Accept?” Lance calms himself down as he says, “Accept.” A line to Kolivan opens directly after. The man looks like he hasn’t gotten much sleep. Lance knows the feeling. 

“Lance, thank you for accepting. You were the only one I could think of to get on such short notice when everyone’s out on their own missions already,” Kolivan greets, voice rough from not sleeping. Lance nodded. 

“What needs to be extracted so quickly, and on such short notice?” Lance asked, already moving around his room, dressing and gathering everything he’ll need for his mission. He’ll have to exchange his mask for his battle one in a bit, but he has to stay on this one to receive the mission information and details. 

“Do you remember the masked scientist on the envoy with you?” Kolivan asked. Lance nodded. Dio had been a huge help in the Neryu case. 

“What happened?” Kolivan’s mouth set in a grim line. 

“She was captured. Normally, this wouldn’t be too much of an issue, but she’s such a valuable asset to the Alliance because of what she is, and all that she represents,” Kolivan explained, eyes looking troubled. Lance tilted his head a bit as he hurried down the hallway. 

“What does she represent?” Lance asked. He didn’t know Dio’s species, so it was entirely possible she was a long lost daughter of Zarkon or something. 

“Well, you know Altea was destroyed many thousands of years ago, right?” Kolivan asked. Lance nodded, confused. He wasn’t sure where Kolivan was going with this. “And how most assumed, including the witch and the emperor that all the Alteans had gone with it?”

“Don’t tell me…,” Lance murmured, slowing himself down in the middle of the dark hallway as realization struck him and he caught up with Kolivan’s train of thought. 

“Dioryne is an Altean, from a long line of exiled and wandering Alteans that survived the fall of Altea.”

~

 _”Don’t tell the princess and her advisor just yet,_ ” Kolivan’s words echoed in Lance’s head as he waited for Pidge to open the hangar doors for him. He’d found her still awake, just barely, and asked if she could let him out for his mission. She’d sighed tiredly, said, “Don’t die,” and then headed to the control room. 

Since he was technically an asset of Allura’s right now, he should have reported to her that he was leaving, but Kolivan had insisted that he not, convinced Lance wouldn’t be able to resist saying _something_ about the mission to put either the Princess or advisor on edge. 

“Where are you going anyways?” Pidge asked through the open videofeed, pressing some buttons on the control console with practiced ease. Coran might usually do this, but Pidge was one to do it most often after him. When it came to the Castle, Pidge had followed Coran around for like three weeks back in the beginning to learn how everything in the Castle worked and how to fix it if it broke. 

“Secret Blade work,” Lance told her, voice gruffer coming out of the battle mask. It didn’t have quite the same refinement of the voice changer in his daily mask. 

“Will you tell me about it when you get back? I still want to hear about your last few months…,” Pidge told him, pressing the last button to open the hangar doors. Lance booted up his ship. Kolivan had left a Blade flyer for him after his last mission, which is what he was using for this mission. No need to wake Nyma and Rolo, since this was a Blade-only mission. His directors for this mission would be of the Blade, or the Alliance, as it had been their request of the Blade to get Dio away safely. 

“Of course, Pidge,” Lance responded, “Get some sleep, though. I only tell my stories to well-rested individuals.” Pidge grimaced. 

“Sleep is a construct created by aliens to reduce the amount of time I can work on a project,” she deadpanned. Lance laughed. 

“If you didn’t know, we are in space. You live with aliens,” Pidge gave him a droll stare. 

“Exactly.” Lance laughed more, before taking a breath and regaining his previous composure. 

“See ya later, Pidge,” she smiled. 

“See ya later, Lance,” she replied. And with that, he was off. 

~

“Lance!” A deep voice exclaimed behind him. He’d arrived at the Blade headquarters about half an hour ago to receive the different stealth things he’d need, since he didn’t carry everything he would need for this mission on him. He turned, half-expecting Kolivan or Antok or someone, but instead he was faced with a Blade with a mask that marked them as female. 

“Mav?” Lance guessed. The masked figure nodded. They were about the right size, and their arms were already around him in a hug, so it hadn’t been too hard to guess. Not many of the other female Blades around here had taken to him, mostly because of the loverboy persona he’d built for himself with Voltron. 

“Why are you hugging me?” Lance asked. It was odd for her to do so, but that fact didn’t seem to be bothering her as she squeezed him before releasing him with a whine. 

“Because you almost died on my watch! I had to make sure you were okay,” Mav responded, sounding just the slightest bit annoyed. 

“Where’s Keely?” Lance sighed, since the little Galra was always clinging to Mav’s side, basically. 

“In the control room. She’ll be our director for this mission,” Mav responded, and Lance tilted his head at her words. 

“Our?” Lance asked. Mav nodded. 

“They put something on her, which is how they captured her. They want me to go so I can remove it,” Mav told him, turning and giving him a view of a long sword strapped to her back, the customary regular-sized blade strapped to her hip. 

“You gonna be okay?” Lance asked. Mav turned back to him, an eyebrow raised. 

“Are you, cub?” She shot back, a teasing smile on her lips. 

“Yes,” Lance responded, to which Mav nodded. 

“Exactly. If you, a cub with just a year of fighting experience will be okay, then I, with my lifetime of experience, will be just as okay, if not more,” Mav said, tone gentle and patient. Lance nodded. 

“Are we ready to go then?” Lance asked. Mav nodded. 

“Let’s go get her, cub.”

~

Getting onto this ship, the one holding Dio, had been surprisingly easy. Maybe it was because of the remote location of the ship, so none of the crew thought that anyone would find it, let alone board it to remove their prized prisoner. 

Mav was surprisingly light on her feet, but then again, most blades were, despite their size. That became evident when she avoided being caught by a patrol of guards by just climbing to occupy the ceiling space above the guards without so much as a rustle. Lance was hidden, blending in with his surroundings thanks to the device he’d picked up. He could use it because, in Galra terms, he was small, easily hidden in the shadows of a ship, especially with the camouflage on. 

“Where is she, Keely?” Lance asked to his mask, which responded with a line lighting up in front of him to show him the way to where Dio was being kept. “Thank you.” The line brightened just a bit, Keely’s way of thanking him. 

Sneaking past the rest of the guards after the initial surprise patrol was easy. They didn’t seem to look up or into the shadows. Lance was frowning all the while behind his mask. If he was Zarkon, and he knew about the Blade, he would be having his guards look in those places. He hadn’t believed how easy his first Galra ship infiltration had been, especially when he was in the shadows of the ceiling the whole time. 

Lance found himself in front a door that did _not_ look like a prison cell. “Mav,” Lance called softly. Mav shifted near him. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” He questioned. Mav nodded. 

“This is not a prison cell,” Mav whispered, mostly for Keely’s benefit than anyone else’s. 

“They were planning on trying to get her to become a druid for the Empire, directly under Haggar,” Keely’s soft voice interrupted. “The device keeps her from using any of her Altean powers.” Mav shifted again, looking nervous. 

“Could this be a trap?” She whispered, setting Lance’s nerves on edge. A trap was the literal last thing they needed. Lance was wanted by Lotor, for who knows what, and Mav was Mav, Head of the Blade’s sciences. Without her, they’d be lost. 

“No, Alliance sources say there is no possible way. It’s just a regular transport, to their knowledge. Should be an easy in and out,” Keely told them, though even from her voice they could tell she was worried. 

“Well, we could always just dip our toes in and see how it goes,” Lance whispered, ignoring the confused noise from Mav. _Hmm, that must’ve translated weirdly,_ he thought faintly. “We’ll test the waters?” Lance tried, and this time the confusion cleared from Mav’s space. 

“We could always see how it goes, yes. That is mostly how the Blade operates at this point anyway,” Mav said, waving her hand at him to shoo him off the door. It was locked, which meant Mav would have to make some hacking magic happen. Lance vigilantly stood guard from her as she fidgeted with the door’s access panel. It slid open a moment later with a hiss. Lance saw a figure in the bed in the room, the only thing in the room, it seemed. The walls were barren, and nothing else seemed present. The figure’s head snapped up at the sound of the door. Their face was covered with a metallic helmet of sorts. 

“Dioryne?” Lance asked softly, not wanting to take her by surprise. 

“Rayul?” Her muffled voice came from behind the mask, sounding disoriented and tired. Lance felt bad for her. That helmet was probably messing with more than just her powers.  
\  
“Yes,” Lance replied, moving around the bed to sit on the edge, letting her know where he was. “We want to get that off you, but I want to hold you as a precautionary measure in case there’s… feedback of some sort. May I?” Dio nodded fervently. 

“Anything to get this off. Thank you Rayul. Who’s with you?” 

“It’s me, Dioryne,” Mav replied, tone gentle and motherly even when behind the Blade mask. 

“Mavrina? They sent you all the way out here for little old me?” Dio asked, voice choking up with some emotion Lance would name as relief and gratefulness. Lance slid his arms around her waist to hold her back. 

“Yes,” Mav said, sitting down like Lance had so Dio could know where she was, “this might hurt, dear one.”

“I know, Mav, just do it,” Dio said, sounding about as ready as Lance had been to go on his first mission. That is to say, not very. Mav nodded, carefully touching Dio’s neck to let her know she was beginning. Her hands moved to where the helmet was clasped around her. 

“This will take a minute. Lance, be on the lookout,” Mav said. Lance nodded. He’d been watching the door since he’d gotten a hold of Dio’s waist. It had slid shut shortly after they’d entered, obscuring them from the immediate view of any guards or sentries. Mav worked in silence as Dio writhed in his arms. It seemed like it was hurting her, but she was doing a disturbingly good job of not screaming. Lance felt for her, if she was so used to whatever amount of pain she was feeling right now that she no longer screamed when it happened. Mav was murmuring what translated to be sweet nothing’s to Dio, who seemed to relax with each one. 

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him, unbidden, but not entirely unwarranted. Mav was treating Dio like her mate, and Dio was doing the same. Lance smiled behind his mask. He wasn’t going to ask unless it became urgent, their business was their business, but to him, it was nice knowing his mentor and his friend both had each other when they needed someone. 

“There, dear one, the helmet is off,” Mav said suddenly as she lifted it from Dio’s head. Lance gasped as her hair spilled out of the helmet. Dio’s hair was a silver color with blue tints to it, and it was _long_. What really struck him, though, was that the check marks on her cheeks were gold. Her skin was darker than Allura’s. He couldn’t see her eyes because they were closed tight, like she was still in pain, but her shoulders had relaxed as she leaned back into Mav and away from him. He didn’t mind, seeing as Mav had just called her dear one and was now rubbing soothing circles into her back.  
“We’ve got to go quick, before they realize anyone is even on the ship,” Lance murmured. Mav nodded, quietly slipping off the bed. To do so, she had to take her hands away from Dio’s back, and Dio followed the touch as it went. Soon enough though, Mav had scooped Dio up and was carrying her bridal style. Lance sighed; kinda wishing Keith would do that with him. *****

“Too late~,” A voice cooed from the corner of the room. Lance had his blades out before they even finished speaking. A girl appeared from the empty space of the back corner, almost like she was a chameleon who’d dropped her camouflage. She even looked like one too, kind of. Dio flinched at the voice. 

”Who are you?” Lance demanded, blades ready in front of him. The girl laughed, her ponytail-like appendage swishing behind her. 

“Not important. What’s important is that you’re some little Blade members here to take an important gift of my commander’s to his mother,” the girl said, eyes narrowing as she said it. 

“Mother? This girl is going to Haggar,” Lance pointed out. The girl tilted her head. 

“I know,” she said, dropping into an almost crouch. That was the only warning he had before she attacked. She was stronger than she looked, and obviously a strong fighter, but he had this. He could distract and hopefully subdue this girl long enough for Mav and Dio to get away and then get away himself. 

“Go! I’ve got this!” Lance yelled, bringing one of the blades up to block another of her high kicks. Mav nodded and then ran, right out the door and gone before the girl even noticed. 

“Oh, they got away,” she mumbled a few moments later, landing a hit on his thigh. Lance tensed before whirling around and using her previous momentum to his advantage, hitting her squarely in her side. She stumbled back, caught off guard. 

“Sorry,” Lance whispered before he turned his Blade so the blunt end of the handle was aimed at her head, and hit. She crumpled, going down in no time at all. Lance had no time to waste, and ducked out of the room before he could think to move her to the bed. He was nice like that, but he couldn’t be if he wanted to get out in time. Mav and Dio were probably already there, waiting the few minutes every Blade did before leaving the other member behind. 

He raced through the halls, thinking of how mad Pidge would be if he didn’t come back from this. Pidge would tear apart the whole galaxy looking for him, this time knowing he was captured by the Galra instead of him seemingly vanishing without a trace. 

He saw the entrance to their extraction point and ducked inside, just as the doors shut. When he managed to look up, Mav was looking at him with a mixture of fear and amusement. 

“That was the funniest thing I’ve seen all day kid, but don’t scare me like that,” Mav said, using her free arm, the one that wasn’t currently being held like a lifeline by Dio, to hug him. Lance nodded into it. 

“I’ll do my best not to do that again. I’d also rather prefer I not do that again,” Lance commented. Mav laughed. 

“I’m holding you to that, kid, don’t disappoint me.”

~

Lance doesn’t really remember arriving back at the Castle, he was too tired for much intelligent thought after giving a thorough report to Kolivan, gathering together Dio’s things that were in Mav’s room for some reason, Mav’s things, Keely, and Keely’s things. 

He was pretty sure he heard Mav say their adoption of Keely was successful (?), and that Dio was excited to meet Allura and Coran (!), but outside of that he was pretty much dead to everything besides Keely deciding to sit next to him to lean on him to sleep. He wished he could just lean his head down on her fluffy head and sleep next to her but he couldn’t; he still had to report to Coran and Allura. And be checked out for any injuries that weren’t bruises that he might have missed.

When they finally got there, everyone in the Castle was awake and working at their own things, and Nyma, Rolo, and Beezer were waiting for them as they got off the ship. Lance tripped over his own feet coming down the ramp, only not falling because Rolo had caught him and was now half-dragging him to the room Coran and messaged him saying they’d be waiting in. He had Nyma take Mav, Dio, and Keely to some rooms close to theirs, and Beezer take their luggage while he went to greet his newest commander. 

Rolo was still kinda dragging him along when they reached the door. Lance looked up to Rolo pleadingly, “Please come in with me? I’m about to fall over and _die_ ,” Lance hissed. Rolo shook his head and laughed. 

“Sorry, boss, you’re on your own,” Rolo said seriously, turning and walking down the hallway before Lance could call after him. Lance sighed, preparing himself for Allura’s suspicions. He had gone off in the middle of the night to God knows where “under the guise” of a Blade mission, after all. She already didn’t have the most trust in him, no matter what her paladins said. 

He pushed open the door after a moment, going to pull up his full mission report he’d submitted to the Blade when suddenly the only thing he felt was a really _really_ strong punch to the gut. He felt all of his breath leave him in a choke as the impact finally reached his brain. He looked down, suddenly face with a blue sleeve with gold accents, and past that, a skirt of pink. _Allura_ , his mind whispered in the same moment that her fist wasn’t in his gut anymore and instead both arms of hers were suddenly around him, holding him close, gently, almost like she was afraid he would disappear. 

“Allura?” Lance choked out in Rayul’s voice. Allura shook her head as she pulled back, tears in her eyes.

“I want to hear your real voice, Lance,” she whispered. Lance gasped. How had she found out? He hadn’t told and he knew the Holts wouldn’t… Coran?

“You told?” Lance asked, knowing Coran was somewhere in the room. Suddenly a hand was on his shoulder, gentle and sincere. 

“I’m sorry, my boy. She was threatening to throw you in the holding cells when I returned to be tried before the Alliance’s courts for treason. I didn’t think you’d ever get Allura in such a fit, but you did, and I couldn’t just let her throw you to the wolves without first knowing that you would never commit treason,” Coran explained. Lance sucked in a breath. He hadn’t thought he’d get Allura that mad at him, If he’d known, he’d have told her he was leaving last night, maybe even told her who he was sooner. 

“Okay,” Lance said, both to Coran’s apology and explanation, and Allura’s request. He reached up and took his mask off. It felt weird, he admitted, to have his face in the open again in front of Allura. “Hi, Allura,” Lance greeted tearfully as Allura went in to hug him again. It was also weird to hear his own voice. He’d become so used to it, to having that voice and being that person. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner… I was afraid of putting you in danger again.”

Allura nodded, pulling back to look him in his face again. “I know,” she said, voice still every bit a princess even when she was crying. “I know, but we’re stronger now, and you are too. You’ll be okay, with us, with Voltron again, if you’ll let us.” Lance nodded. 

“There’s nothing I’d like more.”

><

Hunk knew he wasn’t supposed to listen in on important discussions behind closed doors, _especially_ when it came to conversations between Allura, Coran, and Rayul, but Hunk just couldn’t help it. He knew Allura had been seething earlier, but right before Rayul had come back, she’d just looked sad. So, naturally, he’d been curious. 

It was in his nature to want to know all the facts, all the details, which is what made him such a natural gossiper, even if he wasn’t a mean one, he still participated because you could get _a lot_ from gossip and “accidentally” overhearing conversations, like he was doing currently. In doing so, he’d prepared himself to hear a lot of things. 

He had not been prepared, however, for Allura to say, “I want to hear your real voice, Lance,” after hearing Rayul brokenly say, “Allura.”

He’d stumbled back for a minute despite talking still going on, stunned, before scrambling back to hear more. To hear if Rayul _was_ Lance. If so, no wonder Pidge liked Rayul so much. She’d known, then, if Rayul was Lance. That’s when he heard it, with his ears pressed to the door, desperate to hear his best friend’s voice after so long. 

“Okay,” that was Rayul’s voice, Hunk knew, but there could always be a voice changer inside the mask, and it didn’t sound like he’d taken it off yet. “Hi Allura.” Hunk gasped, there was _no_ way. None. His friend was gone so there was no way he’d been here for like, a month, without telling him? 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner… I was afraid of putting you in danger again.” _Oh,_ Hunk’s brain went, _that is Lance, he would say that, he would feel like he had to keep it a secret, just to protect us, even when he was hurting_. 

“I know,” Allura said, sounding like she knew all to well what Lance was going through, “I know, but we’re stronger now, and you are too. You’ll be okay, with us, with Voltron again, if you’ll let us.” Hunk almost cried. What Allura had just said was all too perfect for assuaging Lance’s fears. It was close to what he would have said had it been him. 

After a moment of silence where Hunk was scared Lance had somehow disappeared again, he heard it again. Lance’s voice. “There’s nothing I’d like more.”

Hunk burst into tears then. Lance… Lance was saying he’d stay. It was all too much, after so many months of not knowing if his best friend was alive or dead, free or captured, happy or sad. Hunk couldn’t do anything but pull a Keith. 

Without thinking, he opened the door. “Lance?!”

**Author's Note:**

> ( ***** a/n : little does lance know... that this already happened unbeknownst to him lol)
> 
> title taken from : bishop's knife trick - fall out boy


End file.
